Horse-collar.



(12.. A. MILLER.

HORSE COLLAR,

(Application filed June 14, 1898.)

Patented .ian. 9, I900.

(m Model.)

THE cams PEIERS co, Pnoro-uwa. WASHINGTON. o. c.

ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE A. MILLER, OF BURKET, INDIANA.

HORSE-COLLAR.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 640,926, dated January9, 1900. Application filed June 14, 1898. Serial No. 683,428. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. MILLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Burket, in the county of Kosciusko and State of Indiana,have invented a new and useful Horse-Collar, of which the followingis aspecification.

My invention relates to harness, and particularly to horse-collars, andhas for one object to provide a device of the class named which isadapted to snugly fit the shoulders of the animal upon which it isarranged and to accommodate itself to the movements of the shoulders, soas to avoid chafing and other inconvenience arising in the ordinarypractice from an ill-fitting collar.

It is a further object of my invention to provide for compactness andneatness of construction by dispensing with the ordinary hames andsubstituting therefor certain reinforcing or hame plates adapted toperform the functions of hames, and in addition thereto serving topreserve the shape of the hearing or inner surface of the collar.

A further object of the reinforcing or hame plates is to distribute thepressure of the collar.

Furthermore, my invention has for its object to provide an improvedconnection between the members of the collar whereby an efficientbearing thereof is attained and displacement or disarrangement isprevented.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in thefollowing descrip tion, andthe novel features thereof will beparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view of a collar constructed inaccordance with my invention, the same being shown applied. Fig. 2 is avertical section of the collar, showing in elevation the inner surfaceof one of the members with a portion of the pad omitted and in dicatingin dotted lines the contour of the reinforcing or stiffening plate. Fig.3 is a transverse section of the upper portions of the collar members.Fig. 4 is a detail view in perspective of the upper end of one of thecollar members detached from the connectingsleeve. r

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawlngs.

The collar embodying my invention comprises separable members 1, ofwhich the body portions consist of leather plates 2and approximatelycoextensive reinforcing or stifiening plates 3,said reinforcing-platescorresponding' in contour with the leather or body plates 2, but beingof sufilciently smaller area to dispose the edges of saidreinforcing-plates parallel with, but spaced inwardly from,corresponding edges of the body-plates 2. The reinforcing-plates aresecured to the inner surfaces of the body-plates by means of rivets 4;or the equivalents thereof, and at their lower ends the body-plates 2'are extended forwardly to form breast strap tongues 5, adapted to besuitably connected by an ordinary fastening device ofthe buckle or othertype. The reinforcing-plates are also extended forwardly at their lowerends for a short distance to stiffen the body-plates 2 at the bases ofthe breast-strap tongues. Also, the body-plates 2 are extendedrearwardly and are provided with attached trace-tongues 6,

such tongues being located above the horizontal planes of thebreast-strap tongues or at intermediate points of the lengths of thecollar members. I

Between the breaststrap and trace-tongues the collar, including thebody-plates 2, of leather, and the reinforcing-plates 3, of metal, orthe equivalent thereof, is extended downwardly and forwardly to form abroad base or bearing-surface, and the reinforcing-plates are preferablycurved inward slightly toward the extremities of the forward extensions3 to fit snugly around the shoulders of the horse, and from this broadbase or bearingsurface the collar members, inclusive of the body andreinforcing plates, are reduced upwardly, as clearly shown in Fig. 2',the rear edges of the members being concavely and the front edgesthereof convexly curved.

At their upper ends the collar members are extended to form tongues ofless width than the contiguous portion of the body-plates, butpreferably equal in width with the contiguous portions of thereinforcing-plates, and such extensions thus preferably consistof'ooextensive portions 7 and 8 of the body-plates 2 andreinforcing-plates 3. I These collar-tongues, consisting of theextensions 7 and 8, arefitted in the extremities of a tubular shield orsleeve 9, which forms the connection between the upper ends of thecollar members, wherebya sliding connection is provided between eachcollar member and the contiguous end of the shield to provide foradjustment of the shield and collar members to suit animals requiringdifferent lengths of collars, such adjustment being accomplished withoutdisengagement of the extremities of the shield from the collar tonguesor extensions. The part-s are secured at the desired adjustment by meansof fastening devices, preferably consisting of buckles 10 and engagingstrap-tongues. In practice, however, I prefer to provide a singlecontinuous strap 11, extending longitudinally and exteriorly of theshield, with its extemities projecting. beyond the ends of the shield toform said strap-tongues, and hence in the drawings I have illustratedthis construction and relative arrangement of parts.

As above indicated, the stiffening or reinforcing plates,which arecross-sectionally fiat, are secured to the inner surfaces of the body orfacing plates 2, consisting of leather or other flexible material; butat their inner sides these reinforcing-plates are concealed by pads 12,coextensive with said body portions 2, and hence slightly overlappingthe edges of the reinforcing-plates, whereby lines of stitching 13 maybe employed to connect the pads with the body of facing-plates 2 beyondthe edges of the reinforcing-plates. These pads may be extended to thedesired points at their lower ends, parallel with the breast-strap andtrace-tongues, and at their upper ends they are extended to formcushioning-tongues 14, springing from the bases or lower portions of thetongues 7 8 of the collar members and terminating contiguous to thecenter of the shield, to prevent contact between the latter and the neckof the horse. Obviously the collar may be provided with the usualrein-rings 15 and other appurtenances and trimmings common in this art.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that l have provided acollar of which the separate members are cross-sectionally fiat, eachconsisting of an outer body portion or facing-plate, an innerlining orpad of soft material, such as felt, and an interposed flatreinforcing-plate, approximately coextensive with the outer and innerelements, with its edges parallel with those of said outer and innerelements, but spaced inwardly therefrom a sufficient distance to allowthe connection of the outer and inner elements by means of lines ofstitching located outside of the edges of the reinforcing-plate. Thereinforcingplates are sufficiently stiff to hold their shape inopposition to strains applied to the collar through the trace-tongues,but are adapted in manufacture to be bent to conform to the generalcontour of the shoulders of a horse,

whereby the pressure of the collar is applied to the shouldersthroughout a surface approximately coextensive with the collar,thusdistributing the bearin g and avoiding that chafing which is commonto collars where the bearing is confined to a small area. Furthermore,itwill be seen that the connection which I have provided between theupper ends of the collar members adapts the device for adjustmentwithout in any way exposing the neck of the horse to a chafingcontactwith any of the members of the collar. The pad-tongues, whichextend upwardly from the bases of the collar-tongues 7 8, overthe widthof the connection being approxi= mately equal with the adjacent portionsof the facing-plates, means for secu ring said collar members andconnections at the desired relative adjustment, and lining-pads carriedby the collar members and having loose upper ends underlapping theadjacent portions of said connection, substantially as specified.

2. A horse-collar having separate collar members provided at their upperends with reduced stifiened tongues, and having liningpads which areextended at their upper ends to form pad-tongues, projecting beyond theside edges and upper ends of the collartongues, a connection between thecollar members, consisting of a tubular shield in the extremities ofwhich said collar-tongues are fitted for adjustment, and means forsecuring the collar members and connection at the desired relativeadjustment, substantially as specified.

3. A horse-collar having separate collar members provided at their upperextremities with stiffened tongues, a connection between the collarmembers consisting of a tubular shield into the extremities of which arefitted said tongues, lining-pads secured to the inner surfaces of thecollar members and having their upper ends separate from the saidtongues,- to lie in contact with the inner sides of those portions ofthe connection which are occupied by the tongues, and means for securingthe collar members at the desired adjustment with relation to the saidconnection, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEOR. A. MILLER.

WVitnesses:

H. B. ROBINSON, JAMES CORRELL.

